Follower track construction



g- 14, 1956 c. A. F. ANDERSON 2,758,602

FOLLOWER TRACK CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 11, 1954 INVENTOR. fiarenw uffl/fndezww? Par/fer & arzer FOLLOWER TRA'CK CONSTRUCTION Clarence A. F. Anderson, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to The Shaw-Walker Company, Muskegon, Micl1., a corporation of Michigan Application January 11, 1954, Serial No. 403,170

'2 Claims. (Cl. '129--3'1) This invention relates to improvements in filing cabinet drawers and has for its principal object to provide an improved and simple form of supporting means for movable partitions used in filing cabinet drawers.

A further object is to provide partition supporting means detachably mounted in the drawer and adjustable to accommodate different types of movable partitions.

Filing cabinet drawers are commonly furnished with two alternate types of upright partition members or plates for use with different filing methods, one type being a follower plate adjustable by sliding lengthwise of the drawer and held in generally upright position in the latter so as to hold the filed contents toward the front of the drawer, and the second type consisting of a plurality of plates disposed at spaced intervals along the drawer and hinged near the drawer bottom for limited swinging movement forwardly and rearwardly of upright position.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a pair of partition supporting channels detachably mountable along opposite sides of the drawer bottom and adjustable by reversing them end to end in the drawer so that they can be used either for supporting a slidable follower plate in one position, or for supporting a plurality of hinged separator plates in their second, reversed position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from time to time as the following description proceeds.

The invention may best be understood by referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical section taken longitudinally of the rear end of a filing cabinet drawer, showing an embodiment of my invention, with one of the channel bars shown in position for receiving a follower plate at the bottom of the drawer;

Figure 1a is a fragmentary vertical section taken longitudinally of the front end of the filing cabinet drawer, shown in Figure 1, but with one of the channel bars shown in a reversed position at the bottom of the drawer for receiving hinged supporter plates;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail side view of one of the detachable supporting channel bars of Figure 1, with an intermediate part broken away;

Figure 2a shows one end of the channel bar of Figure 2;

Figure 2b shows the opposite end of the channel bar of Figure 2;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section of the channel bar taken on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail side view showing the lower portion of the follower plate removed from the drawer;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section taken on line 66 of Figure 1a, but showing one of the partition supporting channel bars in its reversed position for receiving hinged separator plates;

nited States Patent Figure 7 is a fragmentary section similar to Figure 5, but with the channel bar removed;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary section taken on line 8, 8 of Figure 1a.

Referring now to details of the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, a metal drawer for a filing cabinet is indicated generally at 10, including a bottom 11, side walls 12, 12 and front and rear Walls 13 and 14, all formed of sheet metal in any suitable manner. The drawer of the present invention is characterized by having a pair of laterally deepened grooves 15 extending longitudinally along the bottom of the two side walls 12. As shown herein, the bottoms of said grooves are in the I same plane as the drawer bottom 11; the outer walls 16 of the grooves are offset outwardly in parallel relation with the side walls 12; and the tops of said grooves are defined by downwardly facing shoulders 17 so that each groove is of generally rectangular, vertically elongated shape in cross section. The rear wall 14 has rectangular openings 18 therethrough registering with and of substantially the same rectangular shape of'the grooves 15 '(see Figure 5) for a purpose which will presently be described.

A pair of opposed channel bars 20 are detachably mounted in the grooves 15. Said channel bars are formed of sheet metal, generally C-shaped in cross section, to fit fiatwise in upright position within their respective grooves.

Each channel bar 20 consists essentially of an upright web 21 and upper and lower flanged webs 22 and 23, respectively, at right angles thereto. The upper web 22 extends continuously for the full length of the bar. The lower web 23 also extends the length of the bar, but is provided with a terminal flange 24 turned upwardly along its outer edge in parallel spaced relation to the upright web 21.

A portion ofthe flange 24 is serrated to form a series of upstanding teeth 25. The teeth 25 are formed with upright faces 26 toward one end and inclined faces 26a toward the other end.

The web 21 of each channel bar is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced V-shaped openings 27 for receiving the hinge tabs 28 of hinged separator plates 29, one of which is indicated in two positions of hinged movement by dotted lines in Figure la.

The web 21 of each channel bar 20 has a limited area 30'at one endthereof pressed laterally into a plane substantially coincident with the terminal edges of the upper and-lower webs 22 and 23, as shown in Figure 3. Said end area 30 has an upright slot 31 formed therein. A similar upright slot 32 is formed in the web 21 at the opposite end of the channel 20. These two slots are provided for selective engagement by an inturned retaining ear 33 fixed to the face of the adjacent outer wall 16 of groove 15, near the front end of the latter (see Figure 1'a),'fdepending on which end of the channel bar is disposed toward the front of the drawer.

Referring now to the manner in which the pair of channel bars 20 are secured in the grooves 15, 15 for selectively supporting either a follower plate or a plurality of hinged partition plates 29, it will be understood that the opposed pair of channel bars are formed as lefts and rights. That is to say, they are of the same form and construction excepting that they have their open channels facing in opposite directions from their upright webs 21. The channel bar 20 seen in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, is detachably mountable within the groove 15 so that the upright web 21 is either disposed flatwise against the side wall 16 of the left-hand groove 0 as shown in full lines in Figures 1 and 5, or may be the side wall 12 of the drawer, as shown in Figures 1a hinge tabs 28 of the hinged separator plates 29 within the V-shaped openings 27 in the web 21.

Referring more particularly to the arrangement of Figure wherein the follower plate 35 is employed, said follower plate consists essentially of an upright body 38 which has a base bar 41 fixed along its bottom edge. The base bar projects beyond the opposite side margins of the follower plate body 38 to form short legs 41a, 41a, said legs having their outer ends bent forwardly to form parallel elongated feet or runners 42, 42 disposed perpendicularly to the body portion 38 of said follower plate, but with the legs disposed beyond opposite. side margins of the follower plate body 38. Each of the feet 42 is slightly less in vertical height than the distance between the upper web 22 and the lower web 23 of the channel bar, excepting for a relatively short upstanding hump 43 at the front end or toe of each foot, which has an easy sliding fit relative to the upper web 22 when the feet 42 are mounted for slidable movement within and along the channel bars, as shown in Figure 5, and retained therein.

by the upstanding teeth 25, as shown in .Figures 1 and 5.

As will be seen in Figure l, the follower plate will normally be maintained by gravity in upright position with the feet 42, 42 slidably engaged in substantially horizontal position along the bottom webs 23 of the opposed channel bars. Any tendency toward rearward pivoting movement of the follower plate due to pressure of the drawer, contents will be resisted by engagement of the humps 43, 43 on the toes of the feet 42 with the upper web 22 while the follower plate is fulcrumed about the heels of the feet 42 closely adjacent the drawer bottom. The legs 41a at the ends of the transverse portion of the base bar 41 are thus forced into locking engagement against an opposed pair of teeth so as to retain the follower plate in any desired position along the drawer bottom.

When it is desired to change the position of the follower plate 35, it is released by tilting it upwardly "and forwardly, with the humps 43 on the front ends or toes of the feet 42 fulcruming against the top webs 22 of the channel bars, so as to raise the legs 41a on the base bar 41 a sufficient distance to clear the tops of the teeth 25. To aid in tilting the follower plate to disengaged position, a finger piece 45 may be secured to the rear face of the body 38 near the top of the follower plate, as seen in Figure 1. By holding the follower plate in its forwardly inclined position with the legs released from the teeth as.

just described, the follower plate can be shifted to any desired position along the drawer bottom, and then tilted rearwardly into its. new locked position relative to the teeth 25, wherein the feet 42 are returned to normal parallel engagement along the bottom web 23.

It will be observed from Figure 1 that the channel bars 20 may be inserted within the grooves 15 by first projecting the rear end of each bar through the aperture 18 formed in the rear wall 14, with the bar disposed at a slight inward angle to the adjacent side of the drawer. The front end of the bar can then be swung into fully seated engagement in the front end of the groove, with the locking ear 33 engaged within one of the upright slots 31 or 32 in the channel bar, depending upon which end of the bar is in forwardmost" position in the drawer. In

order to detach the bar from its groove, the front end of the rail is first swung outwardly from its groove 15 to withdraw the car 33 from the upright slot 31 or 32 as the case may be. The rear end ofthe channel bar can then be withdrawn from the aperture 18 in the rear wall of the drawer, so that the bar can be wholly removed from its groove, for endwisereversal if desired.

Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact constructions shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a filing drawer having front, side and bottom walls, the side walls. having opposed longitudinally ex- .ending inwardly opening grooves along their bottom margins, a pair of similar channel bars mounted in said grooves closely adjacent the bottom wall of said compartment, said channel bars being formed of sheet metal, one being bent into rectangular C-shaped, and the other being bentinto reverse C-shaped cross-section, each of said channel bars having a relatively long upright web and short top and bottom webs, the bottom web terminat' ing in a plurality of upstanding locking teeth, a normally upright follower plate, having a pair of legs fixed to and extending laterally from the bottom edge thereof for selective locking engagement with the teeth of the opposed channel bars, the outer ends of said legs being extended at right angles to said follower plate to form elongated feet disposed in parallel relation to each other, the bottom edges of said feet being adapted for sliding engagement within and along the bottom webs of the opposed channel bars, and the upper edges of said feet affording vertical clearance relative to the top webs to permit temporary disengagement of said arms from said locking teeth by tilting said follower plate forwardly.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein each of the feet have upstanding humps at their outer ends adapted for sliding fitting engagement within and along the top webs of said channel bars.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

